1 Damian: The Tamed Monster

The students of Ryakuzan High school filed into the long yellow bus parked in front of their school gates. They were chatting excitedly and all looked to be in extremely high spirits as they prepared for their very first excursion to Kyoto.

Behind the long line of students stood a lone boy. He had on large round glasses and held tight onto his backpack as he followed the students onto the bus.

"Out of the way, creep!"

Another large boy tackled him to the ground and the boy grunted as he scraped his shoulder on the pavement. His bag fell off his shoulder and he scrambled to grab it before someone stepped on it. Onc he had it in his hands he turned around and stared at the bigger boy with a glare.

"What you looking at huh!?" the boy made to approach him but a voice suddenly shouted across the road.

"Jang! Stop right this instant!"

A woman walked up to them from the other side of the road and frowned at the scene. She turned towards Jang.

"What have I told you about this, Jang. If I hear you did something like this again then I'll be sending a message to your father!"

Jang dug his hand into his ear while looking away from her, "Huh. Alright Sensei"

"Good. Now get on the bus"

Jang shrugged and began moving again. He sent a glare towards the boy on the floor, and as he passed him by he bent down and extended his hand to him. The boy hesitantly rose his hand to Jang, but once his hand landed in Jang's grip, Jang dragged him up and bent low to speak into his ear.

"I'll make sure you regret this"

He then let go and allowed the boy to fall back to the ground with another grunt.

"Jang!" the woman shouted at the retreating boy. Jang rose his hands.

"Sorry, sensei"

The woman sighed before she turned to the boy on the ground, she walked up to him and helped him to his feet.

"Are you okay, Damian?"

"Y-yes, sensei," Damian put his bag on again and held onto the handles tightly, "I-I'm sorry for bothering you"

The woman smiled at him, "You didn't bother me at all, Damian." her face then took on a more serious expression, "But you shouldn't allow people like that walk over you, Damian. Try fighting back, at least"

"I-I…" Damian hung his head lower and retreated in on himself, 'I tried, Sensei' he thought.

The woman sighed, "Alright, get onto the bus then. We're already set to leave"

Damian nodded and quickly moved to join the other students on the bus.

'I really tried, Sensei,' Damian thought as he entered the bus and looked around at the sea of people. He hung his head low and quietly began making his way towards the back of the bus to seat alone.

Someone put a leg out and he tripped over it.

"Ah!"

Thud!

Everyone on the bus started to laugh and point at him and Damian slowly dragged himself back to his feet and began walking again.

'I really try,' he thought as he squeezed his bag handles even tighter and tried to block out the sounds of his classmates laughing, 'But I'm just so weak'

-----

The trip to Kyoto didn't take as long as Damian thought it would. He spent most of it staring outside the bus, watching as the sights passed by in a blur of colors. This would be the first time he left home on his own and he was grateful that his grandfather allowed him to go on the trip.

They were going to a hot spring somewhere near the center of Kyoto. Apparently, the spring was the most famous one there. He had searched it up and found out that it was surrounded by acres of forest life. Lots and lots of trees covered every single side other than a single road leading in and out of the area.

It made his paranoid side tingle.

"Damian," a voice said from the seat right in front of his and Damian looked up. A girl was leaning over the back of her seat and trying to hand him something. He collected it from her - almost on autopilot - and opened it.

…I'm going to kill you…

Damian recoiled at the message and dropped the paper quickly.

"W-What?"

"Hahahaha!"

Damian looked up to see the girl laughing while pointing at him. Soon enough more and more students began to laugh as well, till the entire bus was laughing and pointing at Damian.

Damian looked around in fear, watching them all. Til his eyes landed on Jang who was seating right in the center seat of eh bus. He had his eyes leveled at Damian and a wide grin stretched across his face. He ran his finger over his neck in a slicing motion and Damian gulped.

This trip just became far less enjoyable.

"Okay, everyone. We're here. Get out in an orderly fashion."

"Yes, Sensei!" the class shouted.

All the students began to come down from the bus one after the other. Damian waited on the bus with his head down till everyone else had left. Once he was sure they were gone he made his way out.

"Gasp!"

Damian stood in shock outside the bus, looking at the large building in front of them. It was styled in Japanese fashion. A large compound with many smaller houses inside it. The entire structure must've been created in the samurai era, it was so ancient.

"Okay everyone," the teacher called their attention, "We're going in now, so please try to be orderly and don't do anything that would cause trouble for the matron of the spring."

"Yes, Sensei!"

"Oh, what nice children you have here"

"AH!"

The teacher jumped back in fear as an old woman suddenly appeared beside her. The woman had on a yukata and carried herself with an air of pride. Her eyes were squinted close and her hair was fully gray, but Damian still shivered as she turned her gaze towards him.

"What interesting children, indeed"

"Oh, Madam Saya. It's just you." the teacher came close again with her hand on her chest, Damian got the distinct feeling that this wasn't the first time Madam Saya did this, "Please don't scare me like that"

Madam Saya chuckled, "I have to keep you on your feet, Hella. How else will you find a husband at your age"

Hella blushed up a storm and coughed into her hand while all the students chuckled. She glared at them and they all promptly shut up, "Whether I have a man or not if none of your business, Madam Saya." she then turned away with a huff, "Everyone, this is Madam Saya. The matron of the Saya springs. Please be gentle with her"

"Hoho, Hella. Do you think I'm so old that a few silly children can make me exert myself? You're looking down on me" Madam Saya turned to the children with a smile, "My family has run these springs for the past three hundred years. And when I'm gone, I will be handing it over to my son as well. I hope you all treat it with the respect a three-hundred-year-old relic deserves"

"Yes, Madam Saya!"

"Good, Good" Madam Saya cooed

From his place at the back of the crowd, Damian saw Madam Saya look towards him once again. Her eyes stayed on him for a while, and then she smiled roguishly. Damian shivered.

"Well, come on then, children," Madam Saya said as she began moving into the springs, "Let me give you the grand tour"

The inside of the springs was absolutely humongous. Damian looked around him and couldn't help but be in awe of the sheer size of it. There had to be at least fifty different spring baths inside the mansion.

"The mansion possesses fifty-five spring baths spread across different locations. The ones open to the public have been marked with the yellow signs, so please try to respect the privacy of the other ones." Madam Saya said as she led them through the grounds. "There are seventeen lodging buildings and a game room at the center of the mansion. The mansion has been around for a very long time, but I can assure you it has been kept up to date on all the best things"

Most of the students weren't even paying attention anymore, simply pointing to various places in awe as they walked. Even Hella couldn't help but be shocked by the sheer size of it, it was like a clan house from time immemorial.

"Madam Saya, what's this?"

Everyone turned to the person who had spoken - a young girl named Mina who wore square-framed glasses. She had on a tight yellow top and short shorts. The thing she had been pointing to was a statue. It was of a man standing in a battle position, he had a leash connected to a strange three-headed creature in one hand, and in the other hand, he carried a flame.

"Oh, that has always been here; since I was a little girl. That, children, is a momento from the age of gods"

The girl seemed even more intrigued now, "The age of gods?"

Madam Saya nodded and walked up to the statue, "The age of gods, when the titans and the gods still walked the face of the earth. It is a mystery why they no longer educate the young ones on such things." she looked towards the children, "There was a war between powers. A war so great that it was almost impossible for the earth not to feel the wrath of it. The gods, led by Zeus and his brothers, Poseidon and Hades, fought against the evil titans and drove them away from the earth, casting them to Tartarus for eternity. Forget about the world wars and the Cold War. The Titanomachy was the most brutal war in history."

Mina was in awe, "So this sculpture. Is it of Zeus?"

Madam Saya smiled, "What made you think that. Was it because I called his name first?"

Mina blushed and looked away in embarrassment.

"No, young one. This statue here is not of Zeus. This is our patron God. The god of the underworld…"

"Hades"

All eyes turned towards Damian who was standing at the back of the crowd. Madam Saya's smile was no longer a small thing now. It stretched across her face to the point where Damian knew it must have hurt

"Yes, young one." she said, "This is the god of the underworld, Hades"

The old woman didn't say anything more after that and she began leading everyone to where they would be staying that night. They came to a large building and she opened the drapes covering to door to reveal a receptionist desk.

Behind the desk stood a tall woman wearing a green yukata. She wore thin glasses and was reading a book before they came in. Once they did, she looked up.

"Madam Saya," she greeted with a bow as they all walked in, "I hope your trip was fruitful"

"Ah, Greta. Indeed it was," Madam Saya motioned to the children, "These are going to be our guests for the next few days. Please, treat them to the very best"

"Of course, Madam Saya"

Greta moved out from behind her desk and motioned for everyone to follow her. Madam Saya said her goodbyes to the group of children and then left them with Greta.

"There are fourteen rooms in the building," Greta began, "seven will be for the girls and seven for the boys. Since there are exactly ten boys and girls, some of you will have to share rooms." she looked towards Hella, "Have you chosen a method of sharing them yet?"

Hella nodded, "Okay kids, straight-line"

She took a bag from her side and shook it before opening it up. All the kids put their hands inside and picked out a rolled-up ball of paper. Once they had all picked, Hella then put her hand inside and picked as well.

Damian opened up his paper and saw it had the word 'Sharing' printed in red font. He looked back up and saw some of the students smiling while others were groaning.

"Okay kids, if you have the words 'not sharing' on your paper, then you are free to choose a room for yourself. But all of you with 'sharing' are going to be sharing your rooms. Find the person whose word was written in the same color as yours. That will be your roommate for the next few days."

The children all picked their partners and began moving deeper inside the house to get to their rooms, but Damian simply stood there alone, looking at the only other person who was still standing in the hallway.

"Damian, Jang. What are the two of you doing?"

Damian turned to see Hella standing in the hallway. He looked down at the paper in his hand and showed it to her, "I'm shared in red"

"Alright," she then held out her hand, "Let me see yours, Jang"

Jang snarled and squeezed his hand tightly.

"Jang," Hella repeated warningly.

Jang finally rose his hand and gave her the paper.

"Okay, you're shared in red as well. It seems you two are going to be bunking together for now. Come on then, let me show you to your room"

Hella began to walk deeper into the house and Damian made to follow her, but a hand grabbed his collar and dragged him back.

"You better wish you aren't a deep sleeper, creep" Jang snarled, "I'm going to make your life in this place hell"

He then pushed Damian to the back and walked ahead to meet up with Hella. Damian stumbled slightly but managed to stay on his feet. He grabbed onto his bag handles tightly and began following after them with his head down.